FAST Racing NEO is a futuristic racing game originally released on the Wii U's eShop service. It was developed and published by Shin'en and is the sequel to FAST Racing League released on WiiWare in 2011. FAST Racing NEO is different from most racing games in the way that your vehicle can change "phases" to take advantage of speed boosts.

Whilst the game had originally been released on the eShop service, it was later released as an actual video game product itself for the Wii Uas Nintendo eShop Selects edition in European and Australian regions.

Contents

Background

Set sometime after the year 2112, and after the success of the anti-gravity, phase-shifting races hosted by the FAST Racing League, FAST Racing NEO makes a triumphant return of the high speed vehicles designed to zip through several locations across the galaxy.

Phase shifting, a unique mechanic of the FAST Racing vehicles, consists on reversing the energy field's polarity of the machine. Given this, across every track exists energy strips that, if match the color of the ship, will give you a boost, but if it is the opposite color, it will slow down the vehicle.

Also, there are several energy orbs scattered across the racetracks that serve to refill the boost bar, which gives you additional thrust besides the energy strips. A technological advance from the FAST Racing League races, is that these orbs are no longer required to shift the energy field's polarity, doing it at will even with an empty boost bar.

Gameplay

Cobalt Cup

Scorpio Circuit

Scorpio Circuit: The first race available in the game. Despite it being an introductory course, it is elaborate it’s visual presentation. It has several twists and turns and a few parts of the track where the road is broken into sections. There is one early obstacle in the form of slowly spinning fans in a halfpipe/tunnel. There is also nearby tornado and monstrous sandworms leap over the racetrack.

Alpine Trust: This race occurs during a snowstorm in a mountainous region. There a lots of slippery ice patches on the racetrack, as well as a few icicles that vehicles may crash into. Phase changing is necessary not only to use the speed boost but also the jumps that allow you to jump over large snow pits in the race course.

Mueller Pacific: This racecourse takes place above a body of water, with a small portion of it taking place underwater via a glass tunnel. There is a part of the track that rotates a full 180 degrees. Near the end of the race is a place where shipyard containers carried across the racetrack, creating fairly hazardous obstacle if a vehicle hits one of them.

Chuoku City: This race winds through various buildings in a sprawling metropolis. Several parts of the track is in segments where the vehicles race off part of the track, sail through the air and land on a distant piece of the track further down. There are fortunately no obstacles on this racecourse.

Xenon Cup

Daitoshi Station

Zvil Raceway: This race appears take place in a mountainous region. One notable part of Zvil Raceway is the trio of swaying tracks that occur early in the race. Another notable part is the huge pitfall that happens midway through the race. There are a few waterfalls that pour onto the racetrack, and while they are arguably not obstacles the spray of the water can briefly block your vision. The last waterfall that appears actually hides a detour with boost pads and boost orbs.

Sunahara Plains: This dusty racecourse is set in a dry, barren landscape, with part of the racetrack overlapping over itself. The most prominent aspect of this race is the blast of flames that erupt in certain sections of the track. Fortunately there are red strips that precede the flame outlets to warn vehicles racing by.

Kamagori City: The racetrack in Kamagori City seems fairly straightforward with a some turns here and there. The most outrageous feature in this race, though, are the hulking spider-like robots that stomps through the city, including onto parts of the track. Besides avoiding the robots’ legs, there are no other obstacles and no pitfalls. A few jump pads allow vehicles to fly over bridges and obtain boost orbs in the air.

Daitoshi Station: This race takes place in space with views of the moon and the Earth (or an Earth-like planet). There are two sections during the race where there is no racetrack at all, instead vehicles are briefly suspended in the air as they weave through meteoroids spinning around in space. The back half of the racetrack is pummeled by meteoroids crashing into the road the vehicles are racing on.

Titanium Cup

Avalanche Valley

Storm Coast: This race occurs during a massive rainstorm in the middle of the ocean. The race track is split into segments with some parts of the track sitting on islands of rock. Making use of jump pads are essential to completing this race as they are the difference to making it over a pitfall or falling into the sea.

Kenshu Jungle: This racetrack is set in tropical setting with trees and branches hanging over the road. The track is fairly narrow, perhaps the most narrow track in the game. There is a fork in the road near the midpoint in the race: To the left is a section of the road that is slightly submerged underwater and a boost pad that appears before the road reconnects; to the right are several boost orbs and some sort of spinning metal panel situated in the middle of the road.

Sunahara Desert: The second Sunahara racetrack differs from most tracks in that there is a severe lack of borders along the track. Poorly timed turns could send vehicles hurtling into the desert. Meanwhile, a giant aircraft hovers above the race course, following along most of the track and kicking up dust along the way.

Avalanche Valley: This area is best characterized by its undulating racetrack. The road snakes around a snow-capped mountainous region with occasional wave-like bumps in the track. True to its name, there is an avalanche of rocks near the start of the race, with the bigger rocks threatening to slow racers down.

Neon Cup

Sendai Outpost

Sendai Outpost: This race takes place among the clouds, high above a large city. This track can often feel like rollercoaster ride, especially with the massive dip that sends vehicles down, then up the racetrack decorated with alternating boost pads. There is brief alternate path early in the race for those brave enough to fly away from the intended track.

Willard Mine: Parts of the track in this race are composed of pipes with their own gravitational pull. You can drive a full 360 degrees along the pipe's’ surface, as long as you are at the top when you reach the end and need to make that next track across a gap. There are numerous obstacles to watch out for in Willard Mine. If the pillars placed on the track don’t get you, the boulders rolling out of tunnels and racing towards you on the track possibly will.

Cevo Canyon: This track is located within a scenic canyon sitting in a large body of water. What’s most interesting about this track is that many of the boost pads here take the form of glowing arched portals. There are seemingly no obstacles, though there are a couple places where driving off the track is possible.

Hibashira Speedway: The final available race in the game takes place above several lava lakes. Despite the fireballs and distant flashes of lightening, this track is arguably tamer and less difficult than most of the previous tracks in the game. There are a few outrageous jumps in the game though, in which the use of boost jumps are vital.